The EU is in the process of developing ‘democracy shield’ to prevent the spread of online misinformation.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has asked Ireland’s European Commissioner Michael McGrath to bring forward a plan for this ‘shield’.

Commissioner McGrath told The Anton Savage Show that online platforms must be effectively regulated due to the huge amount of power that they hold.

“We have to protect freedom of expression, and elections have to be free and fair, and people are free to vote for whoever they wish,” he said.

“At the same time, we have to recognise that the online platforms have incredible power through the algorithms, the recommender systems, the capacity they have to amplify certain content.

“So, the Digital Services Act (DSA) gives the European Union the capacity to engage with the online providers to get information from them to go deep into their systems if required.”

The TikTok app on a smartphone screen

The DSA acts as a digital rulebook which obliges online platforms to regulate content that relates to certain areas such as goods, services and the conduct of elections.

However, Commissioner McGrath said that proceedings will take time, as the EU has to follow due process.

“There’s not a button that you can press in the European Commission head office to stop what you think might be wrong,” he said.

“First of all, you have to get the evidence – you have to prove that what is happening is an interference using the technology in an election system, an election process.

“Then you are empowered with steps and resources to intervene, but that has to go through quite a lengthy process.

“That is the virtue of being in a democracy is that those that you are challenging have a right to contest any actions that may be taken.”

Decisive action

According to Commissioner McGrath, the ‘democracy shield’ will examine if there is a way to take more decisive action while still operating under these guidelines.

“Part of it, I think, is about empowering citizens and encouraging greater citizen engagement and participation within our democracy,” he said.

“But it will look at issues around fact-checking for example, giving people the tools that they need to differentiate what is accurate, what is misinformation, what is blatant disinformation.

“That will be an important part of the democracy shield as well as working with the member states about the conduct of elections, which is a national competence.”

Commissioner McGrath said the DSA allows for “very large penalties” to be imposed against online platforms, which is why its powers must be used carefully.

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Main image: Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay